The Colony Ship Conestoga : The Complete Series: All Eight Books

by John Thornton

  “Yes. I should have thought of that,” Sandie replied. “I will expedite SB Bodowa’s production to ensure calibration and established lock-ins are ready to use. We know the destination already, so standardization will not be difficult. Wonderful idea! There is safety, food, and security on the needle ship.”

  “Build two sending units and an additional receiving unit!” Cammarry ordered. “We will need to have both sending and receiving here so we can come back. We will take one sender with us as we go to the needle ship.”

  “Yes, yes, brilliant idea,” Jerome said. “But the ones here will need to be hidden, for those red automacubes cannot be allowed to follow us as we flee. None of these colony ship humans need to know about our teleportation technology.”

  “We can seal the apartment behind the wall to conceal its location, if you place the teleportation units in there.” This voice was a combination of SB Sherman, and SB Bodowa, and SB Yomaris. “We trust Sandie, so we will comply and keep this secret.”

  “Sandie will it work?” Jerome asked.

  “It is a relatively short teleport, considering the teleporter apparatus was designed for distances of light years, not just to an orbital platform from a planet’s surface level. I can establish built-in locks on the sending and receiving unit’s consoles so that the design parameters are irrevocable. Yes, it should work, however, there may be unknown factors which I have not considered,” Sandie stated. Her voice was shaken and tentative. “But I believe it will work.”

  “Built it now!” Cammarry said.

  SB Bodowa replied, “Revised fabrication order accepted and implemented. Teleportation sending unit will be delivered in five minutes. Receiving unit will be read in seven minutes. Second sending unit, in component parts will be read and packed for transport in nine minutes.”

  “How much time do we have before those red automacubes reach here?” Jerome asked.

  SB Sherman answered, “I am stalling as best I can. I can hinder their access to the lifts, but with explosives they will be able to blow open the doors.”

  “Will that destroy the elevators?” Cammarry asked.

  “Potentially yes, depending upon the munitions used,” SB Sherman answered. “I am not programmed for military tactics or strategy, nor am I acquainted with security procedures. Also, the red automacubes are searching for manual ways to climb to this level. The stairwells, and ladder shafts have been sealed, but explosives applied to those will open the way for them to come here.”

  “Will we have enough time? Sandie, what is your assessment?” Jerome insisted.

  “I hesitate to make a conjecture. There are too many unknown variables. We will find out. I am continuing to seek ways of infiltrating the security automacube’s programming. I have not been successful at that as of yet. The primary synthetic brain supervising the security of Habitat Alpha is not functional. It was destroyed during the insurrection which took place just prior to planet-fall. The red automacubes are independently operated by human handlers. I am sorry I am not more help,” Sandie answered. “I do have an alternative plan in place, should the red automacubes break through into this level.”

  “So now we wait,” Jerome said. He looked at Cammarry and she returned his gaze. “We are certainly in this together.”

  The combined voice of the SBs spoke, “You are not alone in this. We are working with Sandie to address this issue.”

  The fabrication equipment was buzzing and clanking with increased vigor. The lights were flashing and the machinery was chugging along as the parts which had just been molded were assembled, charged, aligned, refined, and purposed.

  SB Bodowa then announced, “The teleportation sending pad is ready. Please remove it from the end of the production line so the subsequent products can be finalized.

  Jerome and Cammarry rushed over to the place where the new equipment had slid on the conveyors. They expected to see a sending unit that looked like the one back in Dome 17, but they were surprised at the compact size of this new teleportation unit.

  It was overall a golden color. About four meters long, and two meters wide, the entire unit was once assembled piece. The permalloy grid which was the rectangular base was annealed together. At each corner was a square red box.

  “Sandie? This is a sending unit?” Cammarry asked.

  “Yes, it has been refined and compacted in size for use by two individuals at a time. It is physically a smaller unit since it will not need to accommodate the 1,500 people the original system was to transmit.” Sandie answered. “The power sources are molded into the frame at each corner. They are a variation of the jumbo fusion boxes designed by Master Engineer Brink of Dome 17 used in some of the larger fusion trucks. They are fully charged now. That charge will only be sufficient for one teleportation event. The majority of the energy used in teleportation is on the sending pad site, 72.98% of the energy load required for matter transmission originates there. The unit is designed to recharge from the Conestoga’s power, but I am not certain how long that energy re-loading will take. The command console is set and tuned to the receiving pad on the needle ship. There is a manual switch on the console to initiate matter transmission, or I can operate it through the lattice.”

  “Grab that end,” Jerome instructed. “We will need to place this in the apartment, so it can be hidden.”

  Cammarry grabbed onto the one end, and Jerome took the other. The frame, console, and built in jumbo fusion boxes were not as heavy as they thought, but it took both of them to carry it. They took the sending pad unit into the apartment and set it down near the bed. There were several cables that they connected into access ports.

  “Sandie, connect the sending unit to the receiving pad,” Cammarry ordered. “Open an orifice and keep it ready to go.”

  “Signals connected. Pre-ignition check list is completed. All systems are ready for initiation. However, I question if you want the orifice opened now,” Sandie replied. “I can only hold the orifice open for 90 seconds. If I open it now, you will need to teleport within that window. At this time, the second sending unit is not ready. Do you want me to open the orifice at this time, or wait until the equipment for the second sending unit is ready?”

  “How are we doing for time?” Jerome asked.

  “The red automacubes have used explosives to breach all the elevator doors. One of them is now flooding the shafts with anesthetic gas,” SB Sherman stated. “Another red automacube has broken into the stairwell that leads directly here. There are four doors between there and here, which I have sealed, but they will not stand up to the explosives. I estimate that that red automacube will arrive here on this level in four minutes. I am uncertain if the security protocols will allow it to use explosives on the bulkhead doors leading into Reproduction and Fabrication.”

  “We must assume that they will blast their way inside,” Cammarry said. “But we need the other teleporter or it will be a one way ride to the needle ship. I do not want to ride down here again in some shuttle with Carter the Kidnapper.”

  SB Bodowa stated, “The molded one-piece teleportation receiving pad unit is ready.”

  Jerome and Cammarry looked at the end of the fabrication line to where a silver colored apparatus was sliding off the conveyors. It was similar in structure to the sending unit, but had basic fusion packs on its corners. The console also did not have any manual controls. They picked it up and carried it into the apartment. They had to move a davenport out of the apartment as well as the table and chairs, to fit both the sending and receiving units side by side in the apartment. They connected its cables into other access ports.

  “Sandie, is this one ready?” Cammarry asked.

  “It appears so, but I can only check this receiving pad when the second sending pad is assembled on the needle ship,” Sandie stated. “The sending unit here is designated Teleporter A, and the second is Teleporter B. Some assembly will be required on the needle ship for completion of Teleporter B. Cammarry be certain to connect in the third com-link
to one of the access ports in the apartment. That com-link will allow me to enter the nonphysicality here to operate both teleporter systems.”

  Cammarry sprinted back to the counter near the conveyor belts. She grabbed the third com-link and rushed back to the apartment and found a place to jack it in. “All set Sandie!”

  “Components for second teleportation sending unit are proceeding off fabricator,” SB Bodowa stated. “Four fusion boxes are the first components.”

  Jerome and Cammarry picked up the red boxes and rushed them into the apartment where they placed them next to the sending unit.

  “Command console now completed,” SB Bodowa announced. A silver-gray device, about knee high, and about as wide, slid out and rolled along the conveyors.

  Jerome carried that into the apartment which was getting very crowded with equipment.

  Kablam!

  An explosion shook the room, but the entry door remained intact.

  “Are they right outside?” Jerome asked.

  “No. That was the stairwell door,” SB Sherman reported. “The lead red automacube has entered this level, followed by three more. Humans are advancing up the stairs at a slower pace.

  “The final components are being completed. There will be eight sections,” Rolling off the conveyor system was the first of the permalloy grids. They were five centimeters thick, and a meter wide by two meters long. The grid was shiny blue colored while the edges were golden.

  The subsequent sections slid out and landed smoothly on the top of the first one. Jerome grabbed the stack and lifted. “Not as heavy as I suspected. Bulky to carry, but not too bad. It is not the load that breaks you down, it is the method you carry it.”

  KABOOM!!

  The doors to Reproduction and Fabrication shook from the intensity of the blast. The white medical automacube, Doctor 912, rushed forward and placed its appendage up and braced the door. “This civil unrest should not be happening. I cannot allow more violence.”

  “The door will not survive another explosion. It only held because I reported a vacuum leak,” SB Sherman stated. “That reinforced the seals on the door, but they are broken now.”

  “We must go!” Jerome yelled.

  “Sandie open the orifice!” Cammarry yelled as she too sprinted toward the sending unit.

  “Opening orifice now,” Sandie stated.

  The teleportation sending unit’s grid glowed and shimmered. A few sparks came up from each corner as the energy field stabilized. Hovering just above the grid were two small circles of energy. Occasional leaps of magnetics or electricity arced between the circles of energy and down to the grid.

  The energy circles continued to hover some distance apart over the gird. The hum of the fusion boxes continued. The glow from the grid and the fusion boxes shone about the apartment. The two small globes of light approached each other from opposite sides of the sending unit.

  Kablast!

  The entry doors to Reproduction and Fabrication shattered with the explosion. The fragments of the doors tore into the white automacube and it flipped over and over. Several of its drive wheels were ripped from the chassis, and it tumbled away into a tangled and battered mess of wreckage. The doors, what was left of them, dripped with molten permalloy which made several long streamers hanging down the entrance. They sizzled and glowed with heat.

  “Shutting apartment door. Good luck to you!” the combined voices of the synthetic brains said.

  The door swung shut and pushed the gear together.

  Sandie spoke loudly, “Synchronizing and harmonization of matter transmission established. Calculations confirm link and channel. Modulating for expansion.”

  The two globes of energy swirled around each other briefly. Then they merged and elongated upward and outward. The brilliant oval that formed had depth and intensity, but it wobbled and shimmied. It then snapped with a crack into an upright rectangular shape about three meters high and two meters wide. A white boundary of light encircled the newly formed cavity through space.

  “Orifice open. Passage to receiving pad clear,” Sandie said in triumph.

  Jerome tossed the grid sections he was carrying into the orifice. The sections disappeared for the tiniest moment, but then reappeared on the far side of the orifice. They bounced across the receiving pad and into a dimly lit area landing near some low shrubbery and pale green plants.

  “Wait! The other gear must go before we do!” Cammarry yelled as she grabbed Jerome’s shoulder to stop him from entering the orifice. “One-way trip!”

  “Oh right!” Jerome grabbed two of the jumbo fusion boxes and tossed them into the orifice. There was a slight shimmer and pop and they passed through and fell onto the receiving pad in the goat room.

  Cammarry shoved the command console into the orifice. Jerome threw the other two jumbo fusion boxes through and the boxes teleported away.

  “Twenty seconds until shut down,” Sandie announced.

  Jerome looked at the apartment. The door had locked shut. He was uncertain if the red automacube had seen where they had gone.

  Cammarry grabbed his hand, “We are leaving, now!” She pulled him into the orifice as they both stepped onto the teleportation sending unit. There were several weird sensations, and Cammarry thought about the time they had journeyed through the Cosmic Crinkle.

  The orifice snapped shut, the power faded, and the apartment was dark.

  Epilogue

  Jerome sat back onto the cleared floor and looked over his work. He put the molecular torch to the side as its tip cooled from the welding he had just completed. A fusion pack was generating light which made the goat room seem less dim and grungy, at least close to the area where he worked. The growth medium was still covering most of the horizontal surfaces, and the pale green plants lacked the vibrancy of the things he had seen in the biological habitat. Here it was quieter, the illumination was dimmer, and the air was more stagnant than in the ecosystem he remembered around Wolf City.

  “Well, that completes the sending unit’s assembly.”

  “So we can go back there, if we ever want to,” Cammarry said as she sat down. The pungent smell of the plants wafted through the air and mixed with the smells of welded metals, oils, and energy usage that the assembling process had produced. “Well nothing much changed here while we made our own planet-fall and return.”

  “Yes, Sandie kept it all secure; the scout ship, the converted airlock, the chair room, and the storage room we made into a bedroom. It is a lot more personal space than we ever had in Dome 17.” Jerome gave her a smile.

  “Yes, but we are here alone. In Dome 17 there were other people like us,” Cammarry replied.

  Sandie interjected, “The codes I acquired using Machine Maintenance and the information I learned from SB Sherman about operation of the doors on the Conestoga has given us more possibilities here on the needle ship. I believe with a few more days of repairs, I will be able to open new access corridors. There appears to be a hanger bay not far from here. Unfortunately, a corridor between here and there was exposed to vacuum in the past. I have an automacube working to correct that by sealing it and then pressurizing it. I will not know all that is in that hanger bay until we can safely open the doors between here and that location.”

  “I hope the repairs are being done by a blue automacube. Cubie blue knows what to do, right?” Jerome smiled.

  “Yes, it is an engineering model of automacube. I conjecture a possibility that the hanger bay may give us access to shuttles.”

  Cammarry looked conflicted. “I am not sure I want another ride on a shuttle with Carter the Kidnapper. I am thankful our last quest down to Habitat Alpha has ended.”

  “There really is no actually ending, just the place we stop telling the story. I once read a fictional work called, ‘The Never Ending Saga’ or something like that. But that reminds me. Sandie, you still have the virtual copy of the flight instructions I found in that small shuttle?” Jerome asked.

  “Yes. You can stud
y it at any time. I can display it in front of you, or I can display any of the books in our records,” Sandie answered.

  “So we could fly the shuttle by ourselves. Maybe we could find one of the other seven biological habitats, one without crazy slave holders. That biological area was certainly beautiful,” Cammarry stated. “So long as we have a way to block Carter the Kidnapper from interfering.

  Jerome smiled and the hugged Cammarry. “That old system is no match for our artificial intelligence system. Sandie, has the link to those old SBs been reestablished?’

  “Unfortunately not completely,” Sandie said. “I can still access both the sending and receiving teleportation units in Habitat Alpha, but I am unable to gain much more than that. The nonphysicality around that apartment is separated and barricaded from the rest of the nonphysicality. That is different than when you departed that area. I cannot remotely penetrate beyond the access ports of that room. I have had no interfaces with any of the synthetic brains we encountered. I am still studying this situation and seeking a solution.”